Golden State was too young and thin to make any noise in the
playoffs last year, so they sacrificed those last 26 games in
embarrassing fashion to make sure they'd have a first-round pick.

It worked better than they ever imagined.

They ended up with the 7th-worst record in the league, got the
7th pick, and took Harrison Barnes — a talented ex-high school
phenom who underperformed in college. With their second-round
pick, they took Draymond Green.

Now, 12 months later, the Warriors have a legitimate chance to
make the Western Conference finals, and Barnes and Green — who
are on the team as a direct result of tanking — are playing in
crunch time.

Barnes has scored 15 points per game in the playoffs, and his
presence as a small-ball power forward has utterly confused
opposing defense since his minutes picked up early in the Denver
series. Green, for his part, is shooting 50% from three.

It's a perfect example of the virtue of tanking, and it sets a
potentially dangerous precedent.

It proves that if you are a certain type of team with certain
types of players, there's no harm in throwing away entire seasons
with an eye toward the future.

Golden State is the feel-good story of the playoffs. But they
wouldn't be here without tanking.